Tony Mowbray today admitted Craig Beattie’s hopes of an Albion return could be out of the striker’s hands.

Mowbray has sent the Scotland international to Crystal Palace for a loan spell and he responded with the winning goal against Charlton last week.

But, while he is refusing to rule out Beattie forcing his way back into Albion’s plans, Mowbray says leading scorer Roman Bednar and powerhouse forward Ishmael Miller could block Beattie’s path back to the first team.

“I think all the strikers are going to have an opportunity and they have to grasp the nettle when it comes,” said Mowbray.

“Craig was allowed to go basically because he wasn’t getting an opportunity to play first-team football.

“We felt it was right for him to go and get up to speed really. I wanted him to try to play week in, week out for Palace.

“He scored the other day and let’s hope it gives him the confidence to try and force his way back into our set-up. But that all depends on how things are going at this end.

“If he comes back and Ishmael and Roman are on 10 goals each then there is a fair chance he is going to find himself back in the same position he was. It’s a very open book for Craig really.

“Let’s see how he does, how he enjoys Palace and see how we’re doing when his loan period is up.

“When he went I just said ‘go and play some football, try to get some goals and put a smile on your face’.”